The Pepper Spraying at UC Davis

Admittedly I have not caught a lot of news in the last week as I'm way behind on work and in the process of completely overhauling and remixing my apartment, HOWEVAH I've got to say ...
I am sickened by the video I saw this morning of *the pepper spraying* at UC Davis...



The liberal in me is wondering when we lost the right to peacefully protest in this country and if the average American notices that we're losing our rights; little by little and more expeditedly as time goes by.

The conservative in me is wondering if the protesters have brainstormed any other ways to make an impact ... aside from sitting down in a grassy knoll with signs.  I mean... did they have a meeting and decide that "sitting in" was the best way to approach this situation?

The logical side of me, which involves only common sense, a slightly above average understanding of business and no political affiliation whatsoever; wonders why the grand old U.S. of A. didn't see that the system it has in place was going to collapse long before it started collapsing...

As with any Gemini who's worth their salt,
I have another side too that can tell you exactly how our country could fix this cluster-shizzle of a mess it's gotten itself into; but it'll take a bit for me to explain that ... so I'll have to save it for another day.

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A picture of the little dahlings and still I have no hula dancers!

I've been working at Willy Jaks today tying up loose ends for Beach Bash 2011. 

I'm covered in paint, sand and tiki torch fuel... but came home for a break to freshen up, recombobulate and check on *neighborhood cat* and her four little dahlings (pictured below) :)

It's back to Willy Jak's shortly to finish signage and building a photo backdrop... 

be sure to add Willy Jak's on Facebook for details on the beach bash!

I never found any hula dancers so we'll have a men's hula dancing contest instead. 

~A Closet Full of Cats and Hula Dancers Needed ASAP~

What an insane week it's been ... and now I'm not only an Auntie Ocho and a Great-Auntie Ocho .. I'm a grandmother, because this beautiful black neighborhood cat I've *sort-of* adopted, trotted right in my front door yesterday afternoon and gave birth to kittens in the floor of my closet...

I didn't actually know it was happening... I had the front door open while loading a few things into the car and she came in, which isn't unusual.  She'll sometimes mill through and check everything out and then off she goes to the front lanai to nibble from her vintage java cup food dish...

But yesterday she never wandered back out.  I called to her a few times and then decided maybe she'd left when I wasn't looking and went on about my afternoon.

I haven't figured out what I'm going to do just yet ... probably make her a nice fluffy box and leave them there for the moment. I'm against the clock to get the Willy's Beach Party online and ready for Saturday, so she's at least going to have to stay there for today at least :)

My lease does not allow me to have a pet .. and while I enjoy making sure the black cat has good food as she roams the neighborhood, I'm not signing up to feed 5 cats roaming the neighborhood... so if anyone is interested in providing a happy home for one (or more) of these little loveys feel free to send a message...

By the way ... do any of you know a group of Hula Dancers?
I really want hula dancers for Saturday night ...

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Well That Didn't Go Too Well...

I was lounging around on my couch at the Ocho this afternoon eating a frozen fruit cup and watching a blues concert on KET contemplating getting up and doing something productive.  My internet situation has been hinky, my electronics batteries situation has been hinky and I'm way behind on everything, so there were a million things I could've done this afternoon.

I'd been wanting to do a Nucleus of my Noggin test post from my phone ... so I toyed with that a bit ...

The Blues concert ended and I grabbed the clicker to see if I could find anything else to justify staying on the couch just a bit longer ... click ... click ... click ... BOOM!

A flash of crime scene tape and Bill Curtis' voice ... I sat my empty fruit cup, ash tray and other accouterments on the foot stool, grabbed my favOrite blankie and curled up on the couch;

My FavOrite Blankie :) 

blissful that I'd found an episode of Cold Case files that I hadn't seen,
with another one coming on right behind it.

That was the last thing I remember.

As I began to wake I had that horribly discombobulated feeling that one gets when they fall asleep in daylight and wake up in dark ... it was just on the back side of dusky when I woke around 8:05.  I picked up my phone to see what was happening in the world ... as dead as a door nail, of course.  I put it on the charger and turned it on as it began to beep and buzz with missed texts and calls ... as if I wasn't far enough behind as it was.  I fixed myself a Coca Cola and went out to observe the state of the neighborhood while the phone charged and stopped it's relentless beeping.  

I watched this little boy who lives in the culdesac ride his bike ... I worry sick about him because he's out at all hours and I never see anyone come out and check on him.  I always make it a point to speak and say something chipper like, "Hello there my little friend!! I sure wish I had your energy!! How's your day going today?"   He usually doesn't say much back, but he probably thinks I'm "one of the people your mother warn you about" because I'm so blasted chipper!

I came back to check the phone.  My mother had texted, wanting to make sure I was alive ... my sister-in-law had texted about a project that I'm going to help her with ... and Sharon had texted to see if I was "underground" because I hadn't replied to her when she texted after HER nap ... well, she was waking about the time I fell asleep.

I texted Mom to let her know I was among the living and texted Sharon back for a ciggie.  We sat out front with the tiki torches ablaze for a bit and caught up on the news of the weekend and then I came back inside and began to do all of the *to-do*s I put off this afternoon, messaging my sis-in-law back and whatnot ...

Now it's 11:30, I've waited entirely too late to take a sleeping pill and I'm wide awake.  I should take this opportunity to do what I didn't do this afternoon, but again ... we shall see ... famous last words ...

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A lazyish Sunday Afternoon and "I Got Nuttin'"

I'm feeling a little indifferent today... I woke going strong, but somewhere between finding old pictures and such while consolidating boxes of memorabilia and stopping for a java break with Murr; I lost my gusto.

This leaves me on the couch with a frozen fruit cup watching a blues concert on KET wanting desperately to find the umph to either get up and clean my apartment or grab my camera bag and go explore. 

We shall see...

absolutely, unequivocally overcome by inertia...

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Have you ever felt as if you were absolutely,
unequivocally overcome by inertia?


...absolutely just stuck... your limbs and appendages buried in molasses ...


the wheels and gears in your brain jammed with what feels like years of rust ...
overwhelmed by complete exhaustion at the thought of doing anything that needs to be done...


I hate that feeling.  I have it this morning.  I have so many things I feel I need to think about and take care of, that it's almost as if my body and mind are shutting down in rebellious aversion.


There's no time for that right now though...

***

I wrote that one morning a couple of weeks ago. (05/12/2011) 

So often, I open up my Blogger and half-write something or 

just rattle out an idea 'real quick' and then leave it to be finished another day... 

Here's the problem with that though ... I'm always adding stuff to the queue, but I'm never going back and finishing anything.  That's the case in a lot of situations.  I have more half started projects possibly than anyone you'll ever meet and I'm abso-effing-lutely dead set on accomplishing the stuff I've stacked up for myself; anywho.. I digress...

I've been dreaming of this weekend for some time now.  I like Memorial Day weekend ... I detest winter, cold and everything Winter and Cold related; so sometimes I feel like it's on this weekend that I begin to come out of hibernation... 

There IS a tight window though, because although we have a few glorious months ahead of us (if we can avoid the catastrophic storms), Labor Day is just around the corner ... and you know what that means...

Womp, Womp, Waaaaaaahhh

Back under ground until acceptable weather rolls around again...

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Over the course of this weekend I'm going to be perusing through my blog queue archives and putting the finishing touches on some of these and posting them so I can get this thing rolling again .... 

Little did I know when I wrote the italicized portion above, it was ready to be posted ... :)  

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~Journey to the Nucleus of my Noggin on Facebook~

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I'm Melting Down, But No One Panic ... I've Got It This Time ...

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My brain is exploding right now.  I've merged all of my blogs (except of course for the Ocho-rific Song o the Day and KCoJax Candids) into this one and I'm about to begin a secluded weekend of writing that I've been dreaming about for weeks. Enjoy!!

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Below are some links to the Facebook pages of
a few of my projects ~ Go *Like* them ... if, in fact you do ... :)

~the Ocho-rific Song o the Day on Facebook~


~Journey to the Nucleus of my Noggin on Facebook~


~KCoJax Candids on Facebook~


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Now, you may ask yourself ...
"What could I do to help Kim Jackson build her empire?

The economy's just so tight right now.  I'd love to buy some stock in her ideas ... if she could get organized, she'd be dangerous ... and come to think of it, she just got the screen on her phone fixed - so she's really starting to crackle over there!  If only we hadn't taken out that second mortgage on the house last year, we could do that now and we'd OWN HER ... I hear she only has a change jar .... "

Well, now listen .. I can't thank you enough for the offer ... I mean really that you would even think of taking out a second mortgage to invest in my empire is quite flattering to say the least; but the help I need from you folks doesn't require nearly that much effort or expense ....

I need you to (if you enjoy reading along, I should say...)  I need you to be a regular reader and occasionally click "Share" to share my blog post with you Facebook friends ... or retweet it if you're a tweeter.  The reason for this is that I've monetized my blogs, which means that I make money based on how much traffic I receive.  I don't want you to bombard anyone!  But if you know someone who might also enjoy my thoughts, please feel free to send them on over...

***
Have a Grand and Groovy Day!
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***

A Little Note from The Ocho - and your Coffeemate is KILLING YOU!

This is just a note to let you cats and kittens know that I'm alive and well. 

I've had a very tumultuous few months in adjusting to self-employment. 

My temper has been short and my blood pressure has been high. 

I've learned that I can make sacrifices that I didn't think I could make.  I no longer go through a two liter of Coca-Cola a day because that's an exorbitant waste of money and not very healthy to boot ... 

I initially had dropped my TV service because every dime I had was needed for something more important than TV ....  But after about a week of living without Comcast Cable, it occurred to me that I really don't need them .. after all, it's 2011 - I can see pretty much everything I want to see "online".  Better still, I can watch it whenever I want - suffice it to say my lack of a "regular paycheck" has caused me to be a bit more creative with how my money is spent ... and I think I kind of like it :)  

NOW, about that Coffeemate .... 

Many of you are familiar with my mom, Kay - affectionately called "Fidget" by me because she does, in fact create things to worry about in many situations and chatter frantically about them.  HOWEVAH - she has a knowledge about alternative medicine and holistic healing that amazes me.  That knowledge has become a passion for the study of things like "food additives".  In today's blog, she discussed very specifically Coffeemate Creamer - HOWEVAH as her PR consultant, I'm going to discuss with her the possibility of changing that to "Powdered Creamer" ;) 

ANYHOO - I've thrown away my Coffeemate - the link is below and I hope that you'll take a few minutes to read it.  She gets a little twisty and hard to follow at times, but she really does know her stuff on this topic... 

In perusing her blog archive you'll find many other posts on things such as natural health, holistic healing, the Blue Zone people, the kindness movement, 29 Days of Giving, the Geezer Adventures.  She posts nearly daily and we're not long from redoing her "tags" and such so that her topics will be more "easily naviagatable" :)

A Simple Womans Journal: BREAKING NEWS/HEALTH WARNING: CRUCIAL INFO:

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A Big Ole ::On This Day:: and a Bit of Senseless Rambling - February 19th

Happy Saturday Folks! As always, I apologize for the writing hiatus - I have entirely too many hooks in the water right now ... and I don't even fish ... so 99% of my waking hours are spent right now scrambling around in complete and total chaos ... 


Anyhoo - I did want to take a little break from the chaos to share with you an ::On This Day:: as today is my brother Brian's 41st birthday.  He seems to be rather convinced that I can provide no information regarding his birthday that will entertain him in the slightest ... 
so I've searched around to see what I could dig up ... 

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Feb 19, 1473:

Copernicus born
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Feb 19, 1847:

Rescuers reach Donner Party
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1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
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1881 - Kansas the first US state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.
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1884 - More than sixty tornadoes strike the Southern United States,

one of the largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history.

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1906 - Will Keith Kellogg found Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Co.

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1908 - New York City - Frederick Albert Cook 1865-1940 

sets out for North Pole in steamer `John R. Bradley'; US explorer

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1913 - 1st prize inserted into a Cracker Jack box

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1934 - Bob and Dolores Hope marry

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1942 - New York Yankees announce 5,000 uniformed soldiers 

admitted free at each of their upcoming home games

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1945 – World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima – 

about 30,000 United States Marines land on the island of Iwo Jima.

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1968 - 1st U.S. Teachers strike in Florida

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Feb 19, 1970:

-Chicago Seven sentenced

-U.S.S.R. launches Sputnik 52 and Molniya 1-13 communications satellite

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1972 – The Asama-Sansō hostage standoff begins in Japan.

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1977 
Fleetwood Mac's 
"Rumours" album released

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1981 - George Harrison is ordered to pay ABKCO Music $587,000 
for "subconscious plagiarism" "My Sweet Lord" with "He's So Fine
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1985 
- Mickey Mouse welcomed in China
-Canned and bottled Cherry Coke introduced by Coca-Cola
-Artificial heart recipient William J. Schroeder becomes the first such patient to leave hospital
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1986 - USSR launches Mir space station into Earth orbit.
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1987 
- Reagan lifts trade boycott against Poland
-Anti-smoking ad airs for 1st time on TV, featuring Yul Brynner
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1996 -  Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in 
York, Pennsylvania on WQXA 105.7 FM
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Today's Birthdays

1924 – Lee Marvin, American actor (d. 1987)
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1940 – Smokey Robinson, American singer

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1957 – Falco, Austrian singer (d. 1998)
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1963 – Seal, English singer
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1966 – Justine Bateman, American actress
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Leaving the world on this day in history...
1970 – Christoforos Nezer, Greek actor (b. 1887)
1980 – Bon Scott, Australian singer (AC/DC) (b. 1946)
1998 – Grandpa Jones, American entertainer (b. 1913)
2003 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer (b. 1938)
2009 – Kelly Groucutt, Bass guitarist and singer for the band Electric Light Orchestra (b. 1945)
***
There you have it, kids ... An ::On This Day:: for today, February 19th ... and a promise for an upcoming Ocho-rific  covering the Fleetwood Mac Rumors album ... as I had forgotten how absolutely delightful of an album it is until I listened to a bit of it online while finishing this up.  


Until Next Time ... 
Have a Grand and Groovy Day!!

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http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Feb&day=19
http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/february_19.html
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/chicago-seven-sentenced
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/angry-san-francisco-vigilantes-take-the-law-into-their-own-hands